Balance Sheet: Liabilities and Stockholders’ Equity
Quarterly Data
The balance sheet provides creditors, investors, and analysts with information on company resources (assets) and its sources of capital (its equity and liabilities). It normally also provides information about the future earnings capacity of a company assets as well as an indication of cash flows that may come from receivables and inventories.
Liabilities represents obligations of a company arising from past events, the settlement of which is expected to result in an outflow of economic benefits from the entity.
AT&T Inc., consolidated balance sheet: liabilities and stockholders’ equity (quarterly data)
US$ in millions
Based on: 10-Q (reporting date: 2025-03-31), 10-K (reporting date: 2024-12-31), 10-Q (reporting date: 2024-09-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2024-06-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2024-03-31), 10-K (reporting date: 2023-12-31), 10-Q (reporting date: 2023-09-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2023-06-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2023-03-31), 10-K (reporting date: 2022-12-31), 10-Q (reporting date: 2022-09-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2022-06-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2022-03-31), 10-K (reporting date: 2021-12-31), 10-Q (reporting date: 2021-09-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2021-06-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2021-03-31), 10-K (reporting date: 2020-12-31), 10-Q (reporting date: 2020-09-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2020-06-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2020-03-31).
- Debt Maturing Within One Year
- The short-term debt showed notable fluctuation, initially decreasing sharply from $17,067 million in March 2020 to $3,470 million in December 2020, then spiking again to over $24,000 million by the end of 2021. Subsequently, a significant decline occurred through 2022 and 2023, reaching a low of around $2,637 million by March 2025 with some volatility toward the end.
- Accounts Payable and Accrued Liabilities
- This item varied moderately over the periods, peaking at around $50,661 million in December 2020 and generally trending downward after mid-2021, culminating near $33,113 million by March 2025, suggesting a gradual reduction in short-term obligations to suppliers and accrued expenses.
- Advanced Billings and Customer Deposits
- These liabilities remained relatively stable, fluctuating between approximately $3,600 million and $6,000 million throughout the period, with a tendency toward the lower range after 2021, signaling consistent customer prepayments or deposits with minor variations.
- Dividends Payable
- Dividends payable remained fairly steady, generally approximating $2,000 million from late 2021 onward, indicating a maintained or stable dividend policy during the latter periods, despite some higher figures noted before 2021.
- Current Liabilities
- Current liabilities followed a pattern of increase until late 2021, reaching above $85,000 million, followed by a marked decrease throughout 2022 and early 2023, settling in the range of $40,000 to $47,000 million by early 2025. This signifies a net reduction in short-term liabilities over time.
- Long-Term Debt
- Long-term debt excluding current maturities showed a strong drawdown beginning in 2021, dropping from a peak of approximately $180,225 million at the start of 2022 down to around $117,259 million by March 2025. This denotes considerable deleveraging efforts or refinancing activities.
- Deferred Tax Liabilities and Other Noncurrent Liabilities
- Noncurrent deferred tax liabilities remained relatively stable in the $58,000 to $65,000 million range, exhibiting minor oscillations with no significant trend. Other noncurrent liabilities decreased steadily over time, indicative of ongoing reductions in long-term obligations outside of debt and taxes.
- Postemployment Benefit Obligation
- This obligation declined notably from over $18,000 million in early 2020 to approximately $6,000 to $9,000 million range in subsequent years, demonstrating substantial reductions likely due to settlements, plan amendments, or demographic changes affecting benefits liabilities.
- Noncurrent Operating Lease Liabilities
- These liabilities decreased moderately from around $22,000 million in 2020 to roughly $17,400 million by the end of 2024 and into 2025, reflecting possible lease terminations or renegotiations.
- Redeemable Noncontrolling Interest
- This item appeared from late 2022 onward, showing a slight upward trend from $1,970 million to approximately $1,981 million by the end of 2024, indicating minor changes in noncontrolling interests subject to redemption.
- Stockholders’ Equity
- The total stockholders’ equity attributable to the company exhibited a decline from $177,779 million in early 2020 to a trough of approximately $97,500 million by late 2022. It subsequently recovered moderately to stabilize around $103,700 million by early 2025. This fluctuation reflects underlying net income volatility, equity transactions, or asset revaluations.
- Retained Earnings (Deficit)
- Retained earnings experienced a significant decrease, turning negative during late 2022 and early 2023, before gradually improving into positive territory by early 2025. This suggests periods of net losses or large distributions offsetting prior retained earnings, followed by recovery.
- Additional Paid-in Capital and Treasury Stock
- Additional paid-in capital showed a gradual decline from approximately $130,139 million to around $106,302 million by early 2025. Treasury stock at cost similarly decreased in negative value, indicating buyback activities or treasury stock adjustments over time.
- Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss)
- This component fluctuated widely, moving from a negative balance in early 2020 to positive highs in subsequent years before a slight decline near zero by early 2025. These movements reflect changes in unrealized gains or losses on investments, foreign currency adjustments, or pension-related adjustments.
- Total Liabilities and Stockholders’ Equity
- Total liabilities peaked near $390,639 million in early 2022, then declined to approximately $275,000 million by early 2025, indicating significant liability reduction. Combined with the stockholders’ equity trend, total capitalization remained more stable but also slightly decreased over this period.